30 Years Out

[backtomarvel]

Trying to leapfrog short-term market talk for a second and pull out a telescope ...

 

I'm on the tail end of the baby boom and figuring (hoping is more like it) that I surf demographics well enough that when I'm in my late 60s, early '70s -- the late 2030s -- I will have purchased baby boomer's collections relatively cheaply in coming decades. I will then be selling them to the children of boomers at shows and flea markets as a half business through my retirement, having some fund and making some money along the way.

 

Or lose my shirt.

 

Do you think that scenario is possible? What will the comic book hobby look like in 30 years?

 

[kryptonitecomics]

Milar won't exist because Comic Books will be holograms!!!!!!

[joe_collector]

What will the comic book hobby look like in 30 years?

 

You don't want to know, trust me.

 

Just remember to sew that shirt on tight, real tight.

[sterlingcomics]

What will the comic book hobby look like in 30 years?

 

Ummm.....yeahhhh....

 

We have a problem

 

[bill Lumbergh from Office Space]

[RedRaven]

we're all dead in 2014.

 

Mad props to the Aztecs.

[UnrulyAppendage]

There is a reason baby boomer collections are cheap. It's because the collector base is getting smaller and smaller. I would not use retirement money for this endeavor. If you want to do something as a hobby and maybe make money, it is OK. For your plan to succeed, there needs to be new readers and that is not happening.

 

If you want to make money in collectibles, find out what is hot with kids now. That is video games and toys. Buy the hottest toys and video games and put them up for storage. Look on ebay for the toys that were hot when you were a kid and even the old Atari games. The key for collecting is nostalgia, and when the current generation of young people get disposable income, they will want to buy their old toys thinking how cool it is, and their kids will only look at them with pity in their eyes as to how old their parents are.

 

Kids these days are not buying comic books. When you hit retirement age, other collectors will be hitting retirement age as well. If things don't get better, we will be trading comic books in the retirement homes with each other for more pie.

[Illiterati-migration]

RR, I freaking LOVE "The Darkness". Their video for "I Believe In a Thing Called Love"? BEAUTIFUL. PERFECT. Oh man, I need to go watch it right now... (the guitar player with the handlebar moustache is my favorite).

[backtomarvel]

No, no, no ... all money I'm blowing on comics now I'm using for that rather than cigs (quit for 13 months now) or a fancy car and stuff like that. My wife and are -- and have been -- serious savers for our children's education and retirement.

 

I'm not conversing here in a live-or-die manner. I spend, maybe $100 to $125 a month on comics and that may slightly rise or drop with my income or circumstance.

 

Nope, just chatting comics.

 

What's the current collectible comic comparison to earlier times? Marbles? Watches? Plates? Baby spoons? Those things are out of vogue, and it sounds like the prevailing thought here is that back-issue comic collecting will be out of vogue, too. Will sports cards be out of vogue, too?

[UnrulyAppendage]

I don't about sports cards now, but they took quite a dive a few years back.

[drice6900]

Ahh, but see - there will always be sports, and they will remain popular. Will there always be comics? Will they be popular?

[backtomarvel]

When's the conventional wisdom on the start of "collecting" comics? I realize there are fine copies of books in the 1940s, '50s and like, but those were individuals who simply took care of things they owned, right?

 

When did buying and selling back issues of comics reach critical mass? The mid-1960s?

[RedRaven]

RR, I freaking LOVE "The Darkness". Their video for "I Believe In a Thing Called Love"? BEAUTIFUL. PERFECT. Oh man, I need to go watch it right now... (the guitar player with the handlebar moustache is my favorite).

 

They are definitely not everyone's cup of tea. My brother sent me a link to their website a few months ago and after listening to 'A thing Called Love' I couldnt stop replaying the chorus in my head for almost a full week ... addictively maddening!

They actually played in Austin (about 30 miles from me) approximately a year ago. As of now I know of no american dates for the band.

[currincomics]

Many valid points,but I think that the icons will stand the test of time;

Batman

Spider-Man

Superman

Fantastic Four

Hulk

Wonder Woman

JLA

X-men(Wolverine in particular)

 

and possibly Thor, Captain America. Kids now a days are running around in Spider-Man, Wolverine, Batman and Superman costumes at Halloween. So, the interest is still there-30 years is not going to kill off the collecting of comics. One would have to forecast way after were gone. The comic collection in 100-150 years may be an afterthought, but 30 years-no problem, there will be plenty of buyers.

[Illiterati-migration]

RR, I freaking LOVE "The Darkness". Their video for "I Believe In a Thing Called Love"? BEAUTIFUL. PERFECT. Oh man, I need to go watch it right now... (the guitar player with the handlebar moustache is my favorite).

 

They are definitely not everyone's cup of tea. My brother sent me a link to their website a few months ago and after listening to 'A thing Called Love' I couldnt stop replaying the chorus in my head for almost a full week ... addictively maddening!

They actually played in Austin (about 30 miles from me) approximately a year ago. As of now I know of no american dates for the band.

 

They're absolutely hysterical... what a perfect re-animation of a seemingly "dead" musical form! I can't believe you got to see them in concert! Was the lead singer "dressed to kill"??

[RedRaven]

sorry , I wasnt clear .... I 'discovered' them a few months ago and after reading their website realized I had just missed seeing them live in austin by less than a year

 

 

BTW:They found their lead singer at a karoke bar where he was doing a falsetto operatic version of Bohemian Rhapsody complete with star-kicks.

 

 

 

[Illiterati-migration]

sorry , I wasnt clear .... I 'discovered' them a few months ago and after reading their website realized I had just missed seeing them live in austin by less than a year

 

 

BTW:They found their lead singer at a karoke bar where he was doing a falsetto operatic version of Bohemian Rhapsody complete with star-kicks.

 

 

 

D'oh... my fault... stupid brain. Remind me to stab it with a Q-Tip later.

 

I aspire to be that lead singer. His "thumbs up" is magnificent.

[joe_collector]

If things don't get better, we will be trading comic books in the retirement homes with each other for more pie.

 

 

Make mine apple!!

[joe_collector]

The comic collection in 100-150 years may be an afterthought, but 30 years-no problem, there will be plenty of buyers.

 

Remember, no one is predicting that there will be ZERO demand in 30 years, only that current demographics guarantee LESS demand.